Article
Environmental Sciences
Armin W. Lorenz, Willem Kaijser, Vicenc Acuna, Kari Austnes, Nuria Bonada, Gerald Dorflinger, Teresa Ferreira, Ioannis Karaouzas, Andreu Rico, Daniel Hering
Summary: Temporary rivers in the Mediterranean region pose a challenge for environmental regulations, but there is a lack of comprehensive analysis of their ecological status and stressors. This study compiled data on 1504 temporary rivers in seven Mediterranean countries, finding that over 50% of the water bodies reached good or high ecological status. Land use intensity was found to have the overarching effect on the ecological status, and biomonitoring systems need to be updated for the specific situation of temporary water bodies.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Gunnar Gunnarsson, Elsie Kjeller, Sari Holopainen, Henric Djerf, Johan Elmberg, Hannu Poeysae, Paer Soderquist, Jonas Waldenstrom
Summary: Goose and swan populations have increased alongside the degradation of wetlands, but they do not negatively affect other trophic levels. The abundance of geese and swans is positively related to other waterbird guilds, specific macrophytes, and invertebrate richness and abundance. Productive wetlands support higher abundance of waterbirds, indicating that geese and swans benefit from the environmental changes.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Juha Karjalainen, Xiaoxuan Hu, Mikko Makinen, Anna Karjalainen, Johanna Jarvisto, Kaisa Jarvenpaa, Minna Sepponen, Matti T. Leppanen
Summary: Elevated concentrations of sulfate in waterways, caused by anthropogenic activities, can harm aquatic life in freshwaters. This study conducted chronic and acute sulfate toxicity tests with aquatic organisms from 10 families, providing valuable data on soft freshwater conditions. The results identified the most sensitive species to sulfate and derived hazardous concentrations for soft freshwaters. The study found that most tested organisms could tolerate high sulfate concentrations, but harmful effects were observed on the reproduction of Daphnia longispina and the growth of Lymnaea stagnalis at specific sulfate levels.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Monique Nunes, Daniel A. Lemley, Janine B. Adams
Summary: This study investigated the benthic diatom community structure in two eutrophic, microtidal estuaries impacted by wastewater effluent discharges. The results showed that nutrient loading was the primary stressor, while salinity and river inflow were secondary stressors. The study highlights the importance of managing microtidal, low-inflow estuaries towards a natural dynamic state.
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kate Crane, Ross N. Cuthbert, Anthony Ricciardi, Louise Kregting, Neil E. Coughlan, Hugh J. MacIsaac, Neil Reid, Jaimie T. A. Dick
Summary: The study explored the impact of larval caddisflies on fragment spread of invasive aquatic plants and found that these larvae utilize different plants differently under different plant orientations, thus contributing to the spread of invasive species by generating plant fragments.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Christian Schuerings, Christian K. Feld, Jochem Kail, Daniel Hering
Summary: Agricultural land use has a consistent impact on river biota, with sensitive taxa declining and tolerant taxa benefiting. Different biological metric types and organism groups show varying levels of response. Differences among agricultural types, practices, and organism groups also influence the biota response.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EUROPE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jan E. Vermaat, Vera Biberdzic, Vjola Braho, Biljana Budzakoska Gjoreska, Magdalena Cara, Zamira Dana, Pavle Duraskovic, Tor Erik Eriksen, Dag Hjermann, Alma Imeri, Katarina Jovanovic, Jelena Krizmanic, Lirika Kupe, Tatjana Loshkoska, Joanna Lynn Kemp, Aleksandra Markovic, Suzana Patceva, Jelena Rakocevic, Katarina Stojanovic, Marina Talevska, Sonja Trajanovska, Sasho Trajanovski, Elizabeta Veljanoska-Sarafiloska, Danijela Vidakovic, Konstantin Zdraveski, Ivana Zivic, Susanne C. Schneider
Summary: The study found that eutrophication and water level fluctuation were the most important factors influencing water quality in lakes across the Western Balkans. The impact of shoreline hydro-morphological alteration was less significant. Diatom indicators were the most responsive to environmental pressures, while macrophytes primarily responded to water level changes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Thomais G. Tziotzi, Athanasios Mavromagoulos, Mark Murrie, Scott J. Dalgarno, Marco Evangelisti, Euan K. Brechin, Constantinos J. Milios
Summary: The use of the 1,3,5-tri(2-hydroxyethyl)-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane ligand in manganese chemistry results in the formation of two structurally related {Mn-8} clusters. The shape and magnetic properties of the clusters can be controlled by manipulating the binding mode of the ligand and the characteristics of the organic coligand.
CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Raphael Bousso, Elizabeth Wildenhain
Summary: In cosmology, spatial curvature has a significant impact on the existence of entanglement islands. Positive curvature guarantees the entire universe to be an island, while subsets of the time-symmetric slice of closed or open universes can also be islands under the condition of negative and sufficiently large cosmological constant.
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Juan Enrique Martinez-Legaz, Cornel Pintea
Summary: The study focuses on closed convex subsets of R-n with open or closed Gauss ranges, with particular attention paid to epigraphs of lower semicontinuous convex functions.
MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pierre William Froneman
Summary: Global climate change will cause changes in salinity regimes in southern African estuaries, which can be attributed to increased occurrences of extreme weather events and rising sea levels. This study investigated the impact of salinity on the egg production rate of the sac-spawning copepod Pseudodiaptomus hessei in a temporarily open/closed estuary. The results suggest that changing salinity due to climate warming may decrease the reproductive success of P. hessei along the southeastern coastline of South Africa.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Eric D. Stein, Eleanor M. Gee, Janine B. Adams, Katie Irving, Lara Van Niekerk
Summary: The science behind managing environmental flows in temporarily closed estuaries and coastal lagoons is not as advanced as it is for rivers and large bays. Research priorities include improving understanding of ecological responses to altered flow regimes, developing models that account for watershed and ocean forcing at appropriate scales, quantifying stress-response relationships, and enhancing tools for ecosystem function assessment and monitoring to guide management actions aimed at reducing potential impacts of hydrologic alteration and climate change.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sebastian Cespedes, Senarath P. de Alwis, Francesco Muia, Fernando Quevedo
Summary: This study generalizes quantum tunneling transitions in the WKB approximation and calculates transition rates among different scalar field vacua using a Lorentzian approach. The findings show that there is no obstruction to maintaining the spherically symmetric closed slicing for the new vacuum after a transition, which is the natural Lorentzian realization of the Coleman-De Luccia instanton.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Katharina Boguslawski
Summary: The pair coupled cluster doubles (pCCD) ansatz is an inexpensive and accurate method for describing multi-reference problems in closed-shell systems. This method has been extended to handle open-shell molecules with up to 4 unpaired electrons, approaching chemical accuracy while remaining computationally efficient. The performance of these methods is comparable to more expensive models like DMRG or CCSD(T).
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Mathematics
Chiu-Chu Melissa Liu, Song Yu
Summary: We prove the open/closed correspondence and establish a correspondence in genus zero between two smooth Calabi-Yau manifolds.
ADVANCES IN MATHEMATICS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ladislav Mucina, Mervyn C. Lotter, Michael C. Rutherford, Adriaan van Niekerk, Paul D. Macintyre, James L. Tsakalos, Jonathan Timberlake, Janine B. Adams, Taryn Riddin, Lauren K. Mccarthy
Summary: This study mapped and classified the forests of Southern Africa and neighboring countries according to the global system of biomes, introducing a new four-tier hierarchical biome system. The system includes zonobiome, global biome, continental biome, and regional biome categories, improving the precision of forest mapping. The research reveals unique three zonal forest types in Southern Africa and introduces novel concepts like Zonobiome I and Tropical Dry Forests, expanding knowledge of the biome structure in African biotic communities.
NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
L. van Niekerk, S. Taljaard, S. J. Lamberth, J. B. Adams, S. P. Weerts, C. F. MacKay
Summary: Globally, estuaries are facing rapid deterioration in functionality and productivity due to increasing anthropogenic pressures. This study presents a systematic approach to identify, characterize, and rank the global pressures affecting estuaries. The study identifies six main pressure categories and evaluates their effects across different regions and estuary types. It also provides recommendations for management interventions and identifies future research directions.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AQUATIC SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Marele A. Nel, Gletwyn Rubidge, Janine B. Adams, Lucienne R. D. Human
Summary: Wetlands, especially salt marshes, are important sinks of metals and should be focused on for monitoring metal accumulation in estuaries worldwide. This study found that vegetated depositional sites exhibited higher metal accumulation compared to bare sediment, with rhizosediment containing higher metal concentrations. The results suggest that vegetation plays a significant role in limiting the amount of metals entering the food chain.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Monique Nunes, Daniel A. Lemley, Janine B. Adams
Summary: This study investigated the response of primary producers to cumulative regulating factors, and found the ecological characteristics of phytoplankton, such as chlorophyll-a concentration and abundance of invasive aquatic plants, under different seasons and environmental conditions.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AQUATIC SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Johan Wasserman, Janine B. Adams, Daniel A. Lemley
Summary: Saltpans around the world are increasingly being abandoned, resulting in the loss of ecosystem services. A study in South Africa found that the desertion of a saltpan led to a sharp decrease in waterbird abundance and diversity. By using stormwater inflow, the wetland function of the saltpan can be restored, improving estuary health and providing additional ecosystem services. However, strategic management is required for this novel hypersaline stormwater wetland.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AQUATIC SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Monique Nunes, Daniel A. Lemley, Janine B. Adams
Summary: This study investigated the benthic diatom community structure in two eutrophic, microtidal estuaries impacted by wastewater effluent discharges. The results showed that nutrient loading was the primary stressor, while salinity and river inflow were secondary stressors. The study highlights the importance of managing microtidal, low-inflow estuaries towards a natural dynamic state.
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Manuela Amone-Mabuto, Johan Hollander, Blandina Lugendo, Janine Barbara Adams, Salomao Bandeira
Summary: This study presents a field experiment from Mozambique on the disturbance-and-recovery effects of the highly impacted seagrass species Zostera capensis. The results show that once anthropogenic impacts are halted, the seagrass meadows can restore themselves within 12 months. In addition, a manual restoration method, the plug method, was found to greatly improve the survival rate of seagrass transplantation projects.
NORDIC JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Lara van Niekerk, Stephen J. Lamberth, Nicola C. James, Susan Taljaard, Janine B. Adams, Andre K. Theron, Marjolaine Krug
Summary: This study evaluates the vulnerability of South African estuaries to Climate Change in a data-limited environment. The major climate change stressors identified are changes in climatic and hydrological processes, ocean circulation and temperature regimes, sea level rise, increase in frequency and intensity of sea storms, and ocean acidification. The vulnerability assessment provides a summary of the key shifts with a focus on mouth closures and changes in salinity regimes.
Review
Marine & Freshwater Biology
L. Claassens, J. B. Adams, N. M. de Villiers, J. Wasserman, A. K. Whitfield
Summary: Major threats to South African estuaries include alterations in freshwater flow, urbanization, habitat transformation, deteriorating water quality, biological invasions, and resource over-exploitation. Although estuary restoration is still in its early stages, valuable lessons have been learned from past efforts. Common interventions to address declining estuary health include artificial management of estuary mouths and the use of artificial structures to restore tidal action and remediate erosion damage. The implementation of a national strategy and active restoration measures are crucial for successful restoration.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AQUATIC SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jacqueline L. Raw, Tom Van der Stocken, Dustin Carroll, Linda R. Harris, Anusha Rajkaran, Lara Van Niekerk, Janine B. Adams
Summary: This study shows that dispersal limits the distribution of mangroves at the southern African range limit. Under future climate scenarios, 30% of estuaries currently supporting mangroves are predicted to become unsuitable, while six new estuaries beyond the current distribution are predicted to become suitable. There is limited connectivity between these new sites and established forests.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
J. Wasserman, L. R. D. Human, J. B. Adams
Summary: This study assessed the carbon stocks in the endangered seagrass Zostera capensis in three estuaries in South Africa. The results showed that the average biomass carbon storage was 2.39 Mg C ha-1 and 177.65 Mg C ha-1 was estimated in the top meter of sediment. The sediment organic carbon content was lower than the global seagrass average but within the range reported for other Zostera species, with significant spatial variability within and between estuaries.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Janine B. Adams, Susan Taljaard, Lara Van Niekerk
Summary: This review study investigated the response of low-inflow estuaries (LIEs) to dam releases and found that successful releases can improve ecological health, estuary function, and provide societal benefits. Baseflow inputs and flow pulse releases were important for maintaining estuary water quality gradients and stimulating fish spawning migrations. Holistic and adaptive restoration approaches, as well as community engagement and cooperation between agencies, were key factors for success. However, the management solution for LIEs is threatened by water abstraction, over allocation, competing water uses, and droughts.
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
(2023)
Article
Oceanography
M. Amone-Mabuto, M. Mubai, S. Bandeira, M. S. Shalli, J. B. Adams, B. R. Lugendo, J. Hollander
Summary: Seagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services to coastal communities, but they are among the least conserved marine ecosystems globally. This study used social research methods to explore the association between seagrass ecosystem services and the perceptions of coastal communities, and found a high level of awareness by local communities concerning the values and socio-ecological function of seagrass meadows.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Susan Taljaard, Lara van Niekerk, Janine B. Adams, Taryn Riddin
Summary: The study applies the ecosystem accounting approach at the individual estuary level for the first time. Spatially explicit information on ecosystem assets and their services is provided to support resource management. Physical accounts include extent and condition, as well as ecosystem service and pressure accounts. These accounts inform estuary management and restoration at the local governance level.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
T. Riddin, J. B. Adams
Summary: Salt marshes near the Breede River estuary in South Africa began to erode in 2003, with the main causes identified as high-frequency gale-force winds and wind-generated waves. The erosion rate of 0.66 meters per year could lead to the disappearance of the marsh within the next 60 years, significantly impacting biodiversity and ecosystem services.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Anaswara Rani, Sneha Asha, Minsa Mini, Pooja P. Rajan, Merin Tomy, Ashita Jose, Xavier Ts, Praveen Kumar
Summary: This study focuses on the eco-friendly synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using Centra-therum punctatum leaf extract. The synthesized nanoparticles showed potent antimicrobial activity and effectively inhibited biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These findings demonstrate the potential of copper oxide nanoparticles for environmentally friendly synthesis and applications.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2024)
Article
Plant Sciences
Bruno Fagundes dos Santos, Talita Oliveira de Arauja, Camilla Oliveira Rios, Advanio Inacio Siqueira-Silva, Eduardo Gusmao Pereira
Summary: This study investigated the interaction between iron excess and phosphorus deficiency in Paspalum densum. The results showed that iron excess decreased phosphorus concentration in roots, while phosphorus deficiency increased iron concentration in leaves. Stomatal limitation was the main cause of decreased photosynthesis due to iron excess. Phosphorus deficiency contributed to higher phosphorus use efficiency and biomass.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2024)